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Summary A* essay - impact of terror in USSR 1930
A* level essay - Russia Revolution and Dictatorship
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The most significant outcome of the Terror and purges of 1930-1941 was an increase inStalin’s political dominance.’
Assess the validity of this view. (25 marks)
The most significant outcome of the terror was that Stalin achieved unrivalled political
dominance for his totalitarian state. However, economic, and military dominance were
not fully acquired.
The most overwhelming outcome of the terror was an increase in Stalin’s political
dominance and a consolidation of his power. This is particularly evident in the expansion
of his control and authority in the Communist party within this period. For example,
between 1929-1933 key figures such as Trotsky, Bukharin and Zinoviev are arrested,
which systematically removes his former political opponents, and thus consolidated his
central position within the Communist Party. This was further extended by completely
demonising these key figures who allegedly posed ‘threats’ to his leadership and
allegedly betraying the USSR’s progress during the FYPs. Thus, Stalin’s position and
authority within the USSR becomes glorified by the publicly humiliating show trials of
1936 and 1938, which ultimately created the false façade that these key figures were
‘vile dogs’ that should be sentenced to death/ sent to the gulags. By removing political
opposition such as Bukharin, Zinoviev and Kamenev, Stalin’s political dominance was
strengthened as he acquired incontestable control – free from criticism or potential
threats. By the end of the 1930s, Stalin was in supreme power as all members of the
politburo and all candidates of the power struggle were dead. Stalin had a subservient
populace and no men of equal rank to him. However, by 1934, a third of all party
members has been purged; this created an indirect consequence, unintended by Stalin,
as he received no genuine advice from his party members regarding policies for the
USSR – this slightly limits the extent of Stalin’s political dominance. Therefore, although
this increased political dominance was partly achieved through successes of the FYPs,
political dominance was more significant through terror as it enabled Stalin to easily
implement any economic policy.
Another outcome of the terror was military dominance however this was
greatly restricted as Stalin would retreat and rely on the army after the outbreak of
WW2. In 1937, Stalin was convinced he couldn’t trust the army and set out to increase
his military dominance and promoted a military purge. Stalin persecuted Tukchachevsky
(a civil war hero) and other leading army generals – this led to 35,000 officers being
either shot or imprisoned. The terror provided Stalin with the perfect means to remove
a potential threat that had the manpower and resources to overthrow him. Stalin risking
whipping out his best commanders when the prospect of war was looming, is a powerful
indication for how far terror and the purges had gone. However, this military dominance
was not Stalin’s main aim – political dominance was his principal objective.
Tukchachevsky would have worked closely with Trotsky in order to win the civil war
hero. In 1937, in tandem with the military purge Stalin also introduced new history texts
that were “presented as Russia’s march to greatness under Lenin-Stalin.” As
Tukchachevsky would have been present in the 1917 revolution and civil war, he would
know that Stalin had an underwhelming role in these historic Bolshevik events.
Therefore, he was perceived as a great threat to Stalin and eliminating him in order to
create a subservient, Stalin glorifying society was necessary. In addition, 11,000 officers
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